Luxury retail at heart of Milan Malpensa makeover

Milan Malpensa’s new Terminal 1 shopping area increases the total retail offering in the departure lounge to 23,000sqm, with around 100 shops, bars and restaurants, including the Davide Oldani Cafè.

Milan Malpensa is experiencing solid passenger growth, with the latest available figures showing a 2.9% increase to 5.5 million passengers between January and April 2014. Cargo traffic has performed even more strongly – a 10.7% rise to 147,337 tonnes handled in the first four months of the year perhaps indicating that the airport is at the vanguard of the economic recovery.

“Malpensa is pivotal in the Milan airport system; it is strategic for this country, and SEA invests in an infrastructure that was able to grow even during the crisis and is now capturing the signs, albeit still weak, of an upcoming recovery,” commented SEA President Pietro Modiano. “What we can see today is only the beginning of Malpensa’s new success story unfolding before our eyes.”

Non-aviation revenues are increasingly important to SEA, growing by 6.8% in 2013 to €180.6 million, which represents 23% of SEA’s overall revenues.
The new retail area – the Piazza del Lusso – creates a real sense of place. Truly Italian in style, the design is a tribute to the city of Milan. The desire was to create a luxury commercial platform on a par with that of the city, and both the architecture and the materials used are similar to those of the famous downtown Galleria Vittorio Emanuele shopping mall.

While the figures are impressive – a total area of 8,000sqm with 46 commercial units, including a 2,000sqm walkthrough duty free area – even more impressive are the important new brands. These include Tod’s, Moncler, Bottega Veneta, and the first Giorgio Armani boutique in a European airport.
The new shopping area is accessible to passengers travelling to both Schengen and non-Schengen destinations, and increases the total retail offering in the departures area to 23,000sqm, with around 100 shops, bars and restaurants. These include the Davide Oldani Cafè, where passengers can enjoy a gourmet meal (Davide Oldani is a renowned Italian chef).

Elegant, bright and state-of-the-art

The new retail area features an impressive range of new brands, including Tod’s, Moncler, Bottega Veneta, and the first Giorgio Armani boutique in a European airport.

The lighting is one of the most distinctive features of the new area, and was created by renowned lighting designer Cinzia Ferrara. “Constantly alternating full and empty spaces in the drop ceiling creates a light and shade effect, an effect that changes according to how one looks at it,” explained Ferrara.
The €30 million restyling of the current part of Terminal 1 involves a surface area of 18,000sqm, including the Arrival Hall, the check-in level and the entrance to the airport from the railway station.

Once the overall renovation is complete in April 2015, Terminal 1 will be an elegant, bright and airy state-of-the-art steel and glass facility, featuring an aerodynamic design, marble floors, and zinc-titanium cladding. It will have a total surface area of 350,000sqm, 90 boarding gates, 270 check-in desks, and will be the first Italian airport able to accommodate two A380s simultaneously.

“The new spaces have been conceived, designed and built to project into the future an airport facility intended to contribute to the relaunch of a new Milan, while keeping the memories of its past, having a careful eye on its present and eager to participate in a leading role in the creativity of the years to come,” commented architect Gregorio Caccia Dominioni. “The works are inspired by the Lombard architectural and design tradition, characterised by the search for innovative materials and special care of details aimed at achieving overall harmony.”

The restyled Terminal 1 showcases Milan Malpensa as an icon of innovation and design. The airport expects the new shopping area to become a destination in its own right, and the renovation is sure to further enhance both the passenger experience and the airport’s vital non-aviation revenues.